Saturday, December 11, 2010

DEWANI: Monde Mbolombo 4th man...police stay silent

Cops silent on 4th man

Police are keeping mum on whether Monde Mbolombo - the fourth man implicated in the murder of murdered honeymoon tourist Anni Dewani - has been arrested.

Police are keeping mum on whether Monde Mbolombo - the fourth man implicated in the murder of murdered honeymoon tourist Anni Dewani - has been arrested.

But if British media reports are anything to go by, Mbolombo's revelations to police formed an integral part of Shrien Dewani's bail hearing before a British magistrate on Wednesday.

South Africa is seeking to have Dewani extradited from Britain to stand trial for the murder of his newlywed wife in Gugulethu, Cape Town, last month.

The 30-year-old businessman was arrested in Bristol on Tuesday night on suspicion of conspiring to murder her.

He has professed his innocence and indicated that he intends opposing his extradition.

The Daily Telegraph reported that Ben Watson, who acted for the South African government in the bail hearing, divulged details of Mbolombo's "witness statement".

Taxi driver Zola Tongo said in his confession in the Cape Town High Court on Tuesday, which formed part of a plea and sentence agreement with the state, that after Dewani approached him to help murder Anni he contacted Mbolombo.

"I went to a friend of mine, Monde Mbolombo, to inquire whether he could assist me in sourcing anyone prepared to carry out the killing as requested by Shrien Dewani.

"Monde put me in contact with Mziwamadoda Qwabe. This person is currently in custody awaiting trial in respect of these offences. I informed Monde that there would be R15000 for the job. Monde said that he wanted R5000 for organising the hit man and that we should pay the hit man R10000,'' said Tongo.

Until this week, only Tongo, Xolile Mngeni and Qwabe had been arrested and named as suspects. Tongo was sentenced to 18 years for his part in the killing.

Police spokesman Brigadier Sally de Beer, who has taken over all media inquiries, refused yesterday to say if Mbolombo had been arrested or had given a statement to police.

"I am not going to comment on the ongoing murder investigation," she said.

De Beer refused to comment on claims, first aired in the London court on Wednesday, that Tongo believed Dewani plotted a similar murder in South Africa. She would also not comment on a report in UK newspaper The Sun that the police had closed-circuit television footage of Shrien Dewani paying the taxi driver a few days after his wife's murder.

The paper quoted a Cape Town "police source" as saying: "Tongo's claim he was given money by Dewani after Anni's death is backed up in full colour on video.

"CCTV footage shows them meeting in a restaurant area of a hotel and Shrien Dewani hands money to the driver. This was days after Anni's body was found".

Dewani was granted bail equivalent to R2.7-million by a magistrate in London, but had to remain in custody after the South African government lodged appeal papers. He is scheduled to apply for bail in the high court.